


A rough morning

by roseyanon



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: (the papyrus/sans thing isn't anything requited or acted upon but im gonna tag it to be safe), Angst, But really just diving on in to this would probably be fine too, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Papyrus is trying his best, Sans is being a jerk, Won't fully make sense without reading 'tales of the unexpected' chapter 194
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 15:32:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17246756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseyanon/pseuds/roseyanon
Summary: It's the next morning and both skeletons are flower free. But with Papyrus frantic about how different Sans is behaving, and Sans finding almost everything his brother does annoying at best, it's shaping up to be a less than ideal start to the day.





	A rough morning

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [tales of the unexpected](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12660516) by [Laughing_Zombie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laughing_Zombie/pseuds/Laughing_Zombie). 



Sans woke up feeling somewhat confused.  
  
He had woken up to the sound of Papyrus stomping around downstairs as he made breakfast/cleaned the living room/scolded the annoying dog, but instead of the swelling of affection he normally felt, Sans found himself annoyed and thinking 'what part of i need rest to recover from surgery was so hard for him to understand?!' Almost as soon as he thought it however, he remembered that he had in fact gotten the surgery to remove the flowers.  
  
So now he no longer cared about Papyrus.  
  
Huh.  
  
Sitting up, he scratched at his now pain-free ribs, idly reflecting on last night. It had all been so quick… he had been suffering the flowers for years, unwilling to burden his brother with what he knew (thanks to several resets,) would be unreciprocated feelings. And then, after a several hour surgery (which for Sans went by in no time at all,) suddenly he was flower free, able to take a deep breath without coughing up his soul… but at the cost of being emptied out of his love and affection for Papyrus.  
  
He remembered hoping that he would be able to act as he always had, even without the more amorous inclinations his mind would take, but upon seeing Papyrus last night, Sans realized he genuinely, one hundred percent, did not care about putting forth that kind of effort. What would be the point?  
  
To make Papyrus happy?  
Who cares about that?  
  
(Not Sans. Not anymore.)  
  
As he shuffled through his laundry pile in search of a clean shirt, Sans wondered if Papyrus had always been this annoying, or if it happened slowly over time and he just didn't notice it due to being blinded by love. Or maybe even Papyrus was so aggravating because of Sans? After all, as his older brother, some sort of example should have been set. If that was the case though, maybe he had; after all, Sans recalled many a fun day spent just annoying the heck out of his little brother. So maybe Papyrus HAD taken after him, just in a more bombastic way.  
  
From downstairs the sound of Papyrus singing at what seemed to be the top of his metaphorical lungs joined the general din of Papyrus cooking, and Sans winced at the sudden up tick of volume. 'make that VERY bombastic.'  
  
-  
  
Down in the kitchen, Papyrus was doing his best to keep up a good cheer. He was determined to make this the best breakfast Sans had ever had, so not only was it being infused with as much brotherly-love Papyrus could pack into each bite, he was even branching out into more… _greasy_ breakfast fare. As much as Sans would encourage him, Papyrus knew his spaghetti was more suffered as a labor of love rather than genuinely enjoyed. So far he felt he was doing pretty great at this exciting new branch of cooking! There had been a bit more smoke than he expected with the bacon, and the eggs were… maybe a little bit too runny. But at least toast was simple enough! Not to mention healthy, especially when compared to _bacon_. To be safe he made half a loaf's worth so that there would be plenty to soak up all that grease.  
  
(There actually wasn't all that much grease: the bacon was very dry.)  
  
"pipe down will ya?!"  
  
Papyrus startled badly, jumping nearly a foot in the air and almost smacking the toaster off the counter as he spun around. Sans was scowling in the kitchen doorway, mittened hands cautiously coming back down from his skull where he'd previously had them trying to block out the sound of Papyrus's singing.   
  
"AAAH! OH, GOOD- Good Morning Brother!" Papyrus sheepishly tried to bring his volume down, even as it hurt his feelings to have to do so. (Sans had never had a problem with how loud he was before, had praised his boisterous cheer, was this going to become the new normal…?) Sans sighed, seeming not all that appeased, and shuffled to his spot at the table.  
  
"morning bro. i don't suppose you've started any coffee yet…?" Papyrus smacked his own forehead with a loud 'CLANK!' and immediately began fussing with the coffee pot. "MY APOLOGIES, IT COMPLETELY SLIPPED MY MIND WHAT WITH- Ah, I Mean I Was Trying Out Some New Foods And-"  
"it's fine bro," Sans interrupted, leaning tiredly over the table with his face propped in one hand. "just get the coffee going now. i don't mind waiting for it before eating."  
  
There was an awkward silence that was eventually broken by the latest batch of toast popping out of the toaster. The sound seemed to knock Sans out of whatever thoughts he had been having, and he squinted at the pile of toast already on the table as Papyrus busied himself with buttering.  
  
"um… papyrus? how much toast did you make?"  
"OH, APPRO- Approximately Nine Slices!"  
" _why?_ "  
  
Another awkward pause.  
  
 _sigh_.  
  
"eh, forget about it; guess we can just snack on it throughout the day. don't waste food like that though. i ain't working three jobs so you can blow through money stress cooking."  
"… S-Sorry Brother…"  
"don't be sorry; just don't do it again."  
"O-OKAY- Er, I mean-"  
"and look i appreciate you trying to tone it down, but if it means i'd keep having to hear the first part of your sentence twice, drop it."  
  
Papyrus just nodded, unable to look up from the floor and doing his level best to not start crying. Sans sighed again before slouching out of his seat to herd Papyrus into a chair so he could take over buttering the by-then forgotten toast. As he worked, Sans stayed focused on his hands, doing his best to just ignore Papyrus. But when he heard a quiet sniffle, Sans groaned at himself internally. Deadened emotions or not, making someone cry wasn't cool.  
  
 ~~(Even if it was someone as annoying as Papyrus.)~~  
  
Putting down the now buttered toast, Sans gently set a hand on Papyrus's shoulder. "look… i know i'm being real short with you lately-"  
"IT'S OK SANS! UNDYNE HAD MENTIONED LAST NIGHT THAT-"  
  
 _"don't interrupt me."_  
  
For several seconds the only sound was the coffee pot slowly filling up behind them.  
  
"… as i was saying. when i had gone in for the surgery, the doctor had said that due to how severe my condition was, coupled with how low my hp is, it wasn't unexpected for me to have trouble feeling or expressing positive emotions. he originally gave a ballpark figure of somewhere from a few days to maybe a month, but with how i'm feeling now i'd be willing to bet it's gonna be at least a month. so in the meantime, i am going to be a giant asshole to be around, to put it plainly."    
  
Papyrus waited an extra moment to be sure it was ok for him to speak before saying, "I UNDERSTAND SANS. I KNOW THIS MUST BE HARD FOR YOU TOO, FEELING SO UNLIKE YOURSELF. WHEN I WAS TALKING TO UNDYNE LAST NIGHT, SHE HAD MENTIONED THAT THIS WASN'T UNUSUAL, BUT THEN WE REMEMBERED THAT DR. ALPHYS ALSO HAD HANAHAKI DISEASE FOR YEARS! SHE MAY BE ABLE TO GIVE SOME ADVICE ABOUT HOW TO START GETTING BACK TO YOUR OLD SELF!"  
  
Sans considered it as he went about pouring himself a cup of coffee. Honestly, it wasn't that bad of an idea; only issue was that he was pretty sure the reason she had managed to snap out of it so quickly was because she had almost immediately fallen in love with someone else, and managed to not only confess her feelings but had them returned. But hell, he hadn't been doing a good job keeping in touch with her lately, and the surgeon had recommended spending as much time as possible among friends. Those excuses were as good as any other.  
  
"yeah, sounds good to me. i'll drop in to say hi to her around lunch time."  
"GREAT! WITH THAT SETTLED, I ALSO WANTED TO SAY: IM REALLY SORRY ABOUT WHAT I SAID LAST NIGHT."  
  
Sans froze part way into sliding back onto his chair.  
"…what?"  
   
"IF- IF YOU HAD NOT GONE THROUGH WITH THE SURGERY. THEN IN THE NEAR FUTURE, YOU WOULD HAVE… SANS, I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU HAD THE SURGERY. I NEVER SHOULD HAVE SAID ANYTHING TO IMPLY THAT ANYTHING WOULD BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU BEING ALIVE AND WELL!"  
"oh. well i mean, you felt as strongly as ya did about 'dying for love' and all that, so i get why you reacted that way. doesn't mean it's ok to sit here and lie to me about it now."  
"WHAT-?! SANS IM SERIOUS!"  
"yeah? so am i. you were willing to just dust in your room without even _trying_ to get with mettaton. said that renouncing your affection would be a 'betrayal' to a guy you hadn't met more than three times. that it was more unacceptable than you _dying_."  
  
Papyrus could only stare at his brother in quiet shock, desperately trying to think of how to make Sans see, that he never would have preferred ANY situation that ended up with Sans dead-!  
  
"so with as strongly as you feel about it: no, i don't believe you when you say you're glad i didn't decide to just dust over some guy who doesn't even remotely return my feelings. cause unlike you? buddy, i _**tried**_. i never put effort into anything, and this is just another great example of why. it never pays off."  
  
The quiet now was painful, and this time there was no background sound of coffee percolating to break it. Sans stood, setting his cup down on the table. "'m going to grillby's. don't wait up." And with that, he was gone.  
  
...  
. . .  
  
Papyrus began sobbing, the love filled food left completely untouched on the table.

**Author's Note:**

> haha i hurt my own feels while writing this x_x
> 
> another inspiration by Is_A_Zombie! i love how quickly they can get a story off and going ♡ originally i was going to try and replicate the sort of pacing they use, but upon sans not leaving his room for like four paragraphs i decided to give up and just write xD
> 
> the gut punch part with sans really laying into papyrus didn't feel as strong when i re-read it, but for the time being im gonna post it anyway. it's 1k words, seems a shame to not share 'em lol


End file.
